Asthma Attack

Asthma affects the sufferer via a constriction of the air passageways. This inhibits the ability to breathe normally and in more severe cases can produce wheezing. This behaviour is often termed as an asthma attack.

Now despite there being numerous factors which physically contribute to the attack we can at least describe what happens when an attack takes over. Firstly the muscles surrounding the air tubes start to contract this reduces the air tubes capacity for carrying air, the lining of the tubes can also become inflamed and swollen, and if you combine this with increased mucus production you can imagine how quickly this would cause a lack of air in the body and trigger an asthma attack.

So why does this happen and can it be controlled ? Well scientists have already established that the tightening and relaxing of the muscles in question are controlled by the nervous system. In fact this constriction works in the same way our reflexes are controlled, hence in most cases it’s an automatic reaction to some external events.

Now despite each of us being susceptible to a general constriction in the airways due to external stimuli such as perfume, cigarette smoke, and dust. The airways of an asthma sufferer are overactive and are known as ‘twitchy’. This overreactiveness doesn’t just respond to allergens but also other stimuli such as cold air, exercise, changes in barometic pressure, and even viral infections. The asthma sufferer has a much stronger reaction and in many cases to stimuli that shouldn’t normally trigger such results.

Muscular airway constriction is not the only problem for the asthma sufferer. Equally uncomfortable is the lining of the airways becoming clogged. The affected area usually swells up and releases a fluid which will reduce the airways even more.

In most cases steroids have to be used for managing these asthmatic flares, thus allowing the swelling to reduce and the airways to open. If the steroids don’t help the swelling and mucus can often produce an infection which is why an antibiotic is often prescribed if the asthma attack starts to drag on a little. Remember asthma attacks can last from just a few minutes to hours or even days.

So how do we know if a person is suffering from an asthma attack as opposed to something else ? Well the only true indicator is a breathing test called spitometry. This will usually notify the doctor that the breathing problems are related to asthma as opposed to anything else. The one downside to this test however is that it only works when an attack is happening, if the sufferer is not having an attack at the time of the test he/she will display normal readings.